PENINSULA: The Cuyahoga Valley National Park says work has started on a new 6.5-mile section of the East Rim mountain bike trail.
The first 2.3-mile section opened in late 2015 and is attracting visitors from around Northeast Ohio and the country, the park said. The new section is expected to be completed in spring 2018.
The Conservancy for Cuyahoga Valley National Park, the park’s nonprofit friends group, in partnership with the Cleveland Area Mountain Bike Association (CAMBA), raised more than $20,000 for the project, including a $10,000 gift from an anonymous donor.
The park is working again with Alex Stewart of Spectrum Trail Design, who designed the first phase of the trail. As with the first phase, the new section will feature a sustainable design that reduces impact on local plants and animals. The next steps of the project include creating the inner connector line, as well as a possible bouldering route off the existing trail.
“CAMBA has long felt that allowing mountain biking in Cuyahoga Valley National Park would further enhance its appeal and improve regional visibility of the park,” Jim Olander, CAMBA director of trails, said in a prepared statement. “[All our partners] share the same focus of building a highly sustainable mountain bike trail system that will introduce many new riders from Ohio and surrounding states to one of the nation’s most beautiful national parks.”
For more information about the East Rim Trail, go to: CVNP.org/EastRim.